Scottish Executive

Access for Disabled People

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for any delay in providing funding to Communities Scotland for the construction of new Women's Aid accommodation for disabled women in Dumfries and when the funding will be made available.

Ms Margaret Curran: Dumfries and Galloway Council have been awarded £34,400 in the current financial year to aid in the construction of the accommodation for disabled women in Dumfries. Further funding of £71,582.98 is also now available, following the conclusion of End Year Flexibility discussions regarding resources which were unspent on the project in financial year 2001-02.

Adoption

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any procedure for the extra judicial reviewing of adoption orders once granted and, in particular, what scope there is for adopted children to return to their natural parents if the children so wish.

Cathy Jamieson: There is no procedure for adoption orders to be reviewed outside the judicial process.

  The effect of an adoption order is to transfer all parental rights and responsibilities to the adoptive parents, as if the child had been born into that family. This includes the right to have the child live with them or otherwise to regulate the child’s residence.

  However, an adoption order will only be granted if it is in the child’s best interests after careful inquiry. As part of the adoption process, a child aged 12 or over must give their consent to a proposed freeing or adoption, unless that child is incapable of so doing. The views of younger children on proposed adoptions should also be taken into account, when the child has the maturity to express a view.

  Should an adoptive family become unable to care for an adopted child, for whatever reason, the local authority assumes a responsibility for ensuring the child’s welfare, as would be the case in any other family.

Agriculture

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects the cost to be to the agricultural sector of bringing waste from farms, such as packaging waste and redundant equipment, under the same regulatory framework as such waste from other businesses.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what it expects the cost to be to the agricultural sector of bringing farm dumps under the same regulatory structure as landfill sites.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what scientific evidence there is to suggest that farm dumps cause environmental damage.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with representatives of the agricultural sector about its proposals to bring (a) waste from farms, such as packaging waste and redundant equipment, under the same regulatory framework as such waste from other businesses and (b) farm dumps under the same regulatory structure as landfill sites.

Alex Johnstone (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it plans to take to minimise costs to the agricultural sector of its proposals to bring waste from farms, such as packaging waste and redundant equipment, under the same regulatory framework as such waste from other businesses and to bring farm dumps under the same regulatory structure as landfill sites.

Ross Finnie: As farm dumps have hitherto been practically unregulated, there is limited information about them on which to base estimates of environmental risks or of the cost of regulation. The Scottish Executive published a consultation paper, Safer Landfill ,   on 29 August. This includes a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment on which it seeks comments: it is expected that consultation responses will provide more information on costs.

  The consultation paper has been sent to a range of representatives of the agricultural sector, including NFU Scotland, the Scottish Landowners Federation, the Crofters Commission, the Scottish Agricultural College and the Independent Farming Group. In preparing the paper we have been in close and regular contact with representatives of NFU Scotland. The paper states our intention to work with NFU Scotland and SEPA to consider ways in which the regulatory burden can be minimised. We are presently considering the membership and remit of a group to undertake this work.

  The consultation paper Safer Landfill is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 23948).

Bathing Waters

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current status is of applications for bathing water identifications received after the Bathing Waters Review Panel last met.

Allan Wilson: A Bathing Waters Panel was convened to identify which waters should be identified as bathing waters in Scotland. That system worked well and we would not want to make changes to bathing water designations outwith that or a similar system. Further, we would not wish to reconvene such a panel until the European Commission publishes its proposals for the revision of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC).

Bathing Waters

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of the incident at Broughty Ferry beach reported in The Courier on 6 August 2002, any designation of the beach as a bathing water beach should include more stringent safety measures and whether it would be an important step towards its proper management.

Allan Wilson: Under the EC Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC ), bathing waters are required to be designated based on the traditional numbers of swimmers, and once designated, such waters are required to meet certain water quality standards. Local authorities have powers to erect signs on beaches under section 121(9) of the Civic Government Act 1982 to advise the public as to any danger or health hazard connected with those waters. The safety of those using coastal waters is a matter for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Cancer

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive (a) how many and (b) what the average age was of people who died from mesothelioma in each of the last three years; whether there any projections in respect of future deaths from the disease, and why there is no unit dedicated to the specialist treatment of and research into mesothelioma.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following table shows how many people died from mesothelioma in each of the last three years, and what the average age was. There are no projections of future deaths from mesothelioma.

  
  1999
2000 2001
 All deaths involving mesothelioma
158 138
160  Mesothelioma 
coded as underlying cause of death but no mention of exposure to asbestos
N/A 116
137  Exposure to 
asbestos coded as underlying cause of death, with a mention of mesothelioma
N/A 16
14  Other underlying 
causes with a mention of mesothelioma N/A
6 9
 Average age of all persons included in the 
total 71
70 71


  Notes:

  1. In Scotland, the cause of death recorded on death certificates is coded using the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The Ninth Revision of the ICD, which was in use up to 1999, did not have a specific code for mesothelioma. However, all cases where mesothelioma was mentioned on the death certificate were identified by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  2. The 10th Revision of the ICD, which has been used to code cause of death in Scotland since 1 January 2000, includes a specific group of codes for mesothelioma.

  The Scottish Executive's strategy for all cancers is to ensure patients have access to the best care possible through multidisciplinary managed clinical networks involving clinicians drawn from among relevant disciplines. There are therefore no centres of excellence vested within particular institutions or facilities.

  Through the Chief Scientist Office, the Scottish Executive funds a wide range of research into cancer. Many researchers and research groups are involved. Concentrating research in a single centre would not be an efficient way of ensuring that its benefits, in terms of improved treatment and organisation of care, are implemented as widely as possible throughout the health service.

Criminal Records

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently waiting for a disclosure check to be performed by the Scottish Criminal Record Office.

Mr Jim Wallace: At 6 September, Disclosure Scotland had 2,703 applications in processing, which included 355 from the Central Registered Body Scotland for volunteers. At that date, Disclosure Scotland had issued 25,701 disclosures.

  Applications to Disclosure Scotland continue to be processed to their target of completing 90% of checks within 10 working days of receipt.

Criminal Records

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to improve the speed of processing of disclosure checks performed by the Scottish Criminal Records Office.

Mr Jim Wallace: On 3 September, Disclosure Scotland introduced new software which allows the immediate transfer of conviction information to the disclosure certificate. This change eliminated the need for manual inputting which took up to an hour per disclosure. Disclosure Scotland continues to meet its target of completing 90% of checks within 10 working days.

  Discussions between Disclosure Scotland and the Central Registered Body Scotland are on-going with a view to refining the procedures used by the voluntary sector.

Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases were marked "no proceedings" in each district and regional procurator fiscal office in each of the last three years.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The information requested is as follows:

   
Cases Marked: "No Proceedings"
April 1999 to March 2000
April 2000 to March 2001
April 2001 to March 2002 
Aberdeen 2,198
1,188 1,269
 Airdrie
1,319 1,523
1,225  Alloa
362 397
473  Arbroath
389 324
184  Ayr
1,009 923
858  Banff
456 102
199  Campbeltown
76 69
36  Cupar
388 391
353  Dingwall
143 169
148  Dornoch
39 43
47  Dumbarton
1,275 1,538
1,563  Dumfries
806 787
862  Dundee
1,251 1,115
911  Dunfermline
1,153 883
1,081  Dunoon
148 176
212  Duns
56 74
88  Edinburgh
3,386 2,804
3,879  Elgin
486 277
309  Falkirk
864 1,099
1,329  Forfar
276 259
224  Fort William
109 135
109  Glasgow
13,726 16,081
13,967  Greenock
817 792
724  Haddington
347 380
359  Hamilton
2,440 2,355
2,198  Inverness
720 776
705  Jedburgh
175 150
172  Kilmarnock
1,451 1,216
1,614  Kirkcaldy
1,308 1,710
1,349  Kirkcudbright
171 170
119  Kirkwall
72 71
57  Lanark
346 344
201  Lerwick
94 60
76  Linlithgow
841 769
841  Lochmaddy
24 21
18  Oban
184 142
132  Paisley
2,036 1,586
1,660  Peebles
81 65
60  Perth
893 695
766  Peterhead
204 174
135  Portree
32 51
60  Rothesay
30 22
45  Selkirk
273 303
231  Stirling
660 943
922  Stonehaven
118 129
86  Stornoway
34 46
52  Stranraer
446 320
276  Tain
134 181
209  Wick
112 152
123  PF Service 
Total 43,958
43,980 42,516

Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been dismissed by the courts as a result of incomplete paperwork or any other error by the (a) Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) Crown Office in each of the last three years.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The information requested is not available but Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Management reviews each instance of this and takes steps to ensure that lessons are learned to seek to avoid repetitions.

Digital Technology

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27834 by Iain Gray on 19 August 2002, what the precise criteria are by which it will judge whether Scotland’s broadband technology has reached Her Majesty's Government’s general target of having "the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005".

Iain Gray: Her Majesty’s Government, working with the Broadband Stakeholder Group, has developed criteria to define competitiveness and extensiveness in line with the broadband target. In summary, competitiveness is defined as a composite measure of price, market regulation and consumer choice. Extensiveness is defined as a composite measure of addressable market and availability.

  As the target is for the UK as a whole, Scotland will not be considered separately from the rest of the UK market when judging whether it has been reached.

Digital Technology

Mr John McAllion (Dundee East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the recent advice given to the Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning on virtual reality modelling language and 3-D web technology and place a copy in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Iain Gray: Copies of the information requested have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23991).

Drug Misuse

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of road accidents have been caused by drug driving in each of the last 10 years and how many and what percentage have resulted in (a) injury and (b) death.

Lewis Macdonald: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents. The returns do not provide information about the causes of the accidents.

  UK Government research, published in 2000, into the incidence of drugs in fatal road accident victims, found that illegal drugs were present in 18% of the sample group and that medicinal drugs were present in 6%. The presence of drugs is not, however, evidence of impairment nor of accident causation. The research report TRL495 is available on the TRL website at:

  http://www.trl.co.uk/1024/mainpage.asp?page=141.

Drug Misuse

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions it has had with the Home Office and the Department of Transport on drug driving.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including drug driving.

Drug Misuse

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many injecting drug abusers in the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area are currently on a methadone programme.

Dr Richard Simpson: Greater Glasgow NHS Board has informed us that there are approximately 5,000 patients on the methadone programme in the NHS board area.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what differences in the way that Scotland implemented last year’s Programme for International Student Assessment caused the Office for National Statistics to advise that "any comparisons with Scotland should be made with caution".

Nicol Stephen: Minor changes to OECD procedures for student sampling and test administration were made to enable the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to be run in Scotland. These changes would not have had any effect on the validity of the PISA results for Scotland nor on the appropriate use of the figures for comparative purposes. We are agreeing with the OECD the procedures that should apply for PISA 2003.

Education

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision exists within the education system for teaching foreign languages to primary school children.

Nicol Stephen: The Ministerial Action Group on Languages made a number of recommendations relating to the provision of foreign language learning in schools in its report Citizens of a Multilingual World . These recommendations included a model for entitlement to language learning which encompassed both the primary and secondary school experience. The Scottish Executive accepted these recommendations and is providing additional funding to local authorities to support their implementation of the recommendations made by the action group and to ensure that a pupils’ entitlement to language learning is put in place. As part of entitlement to language learning, local authorities are being encouraged to make foreign language learning available from at least P6 and improvements in provision will be carefully monitored and evaluated.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been refused places at their chosen secondary schools where those pupils lived in the official catchment area for the school in question in each year since 1998, broken down by local authority area.

Nicol Stephen: The information requested is not held centrally.

Education

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for the improvement of literacy and numeracy levels in Lanarkshire.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive set a national target of helping 80,000 adults between 2001 and 2004, but recognised that specific targets for each area are best developed locally to reflect local circumstances.

  The Scottish Executive has now finalised outcome agreements with Community Learning Strategy Partnerships in North and South Lanarkshire, which estimate that almost 11,000 adults in total will be helped during this period.

  Targets for children are set by schools and local authorities working together to reflect local circumstances.

Employment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in attracting new jobs and industry to Hamilton North and Bellshill.

Iain Gray: Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire is focusing on the direction and priorities set out in the Executive’s A Smart, Successful Scotland . This sets out the foundation for sustained improvement in economic performance in Scotland. It focuses on three key challenges for raising productivity:

  Growing businesses

  Global connections

  Learning and skills

  In addition, a number of local economic initiatives, targeted on specific areas within Lanarkshire including Hamilton North and Bellshill, are being operated by Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire in partnership with other agencies.

Employment

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it is providing to long-term unemployed people in Lanarkshire.

Iain Gray: Employment policy is reserved to the UK Government. Jobcentre Plus offers long-term unemployed people in Lanarkshire a range of services to assist them into work including access to New Deal programmes and, in North Lanarkshire, an Action Team for Jobs. The New Deal has helped over 7,000 people across Lanarkshire enter employment and there are special initiatives and support for those clients who face additional difficulties.

  In addition, in 2002-03, as part of the Scottish Executive’s Training for Work programme, Scottish Enterprise (SE) Lanarkshire aim to offer 1,200 work-related training opportunities to long-term unemployed and economically inactive adults in Lanarkshire. SE Lanarkshire are also involved in, and contribute financially, to a range of local projects and initiatives to assist unemployed people, such as the Lanarkshire Community and Employer Intermediaries and PartiSIPate programmes.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in supermarkets was in each of the last 10 years per capita in each local authority area (a) in total and (b) broken down by company.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28440 on 11 September 2002.

Enterprise

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the percentage increase in outlets owned by overseas companies operating in the fast food retail sector was in each of the last 10 years.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28475 on 12 September 2002.

Enterprise

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many area strategy groups, recommended by the report Implementing Inclusiveness Realising Potential , have been established; where each such group is located, and how the groups will be monitored.

Iain Gray: Area Strategy Groups were not formally constituted in the implementation of the Beattie Report but there are, or will be, strategic groups responsible for Implementing Inclusiveness Projects in each Local Advisory Board area of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

  Partnership working is subject to monitoring through the Careers Scotland performance management system and will also be evaluated as part of the National Monitoring and Evaluation of the Beattie Inclusiveness projects.

Enterprise

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been invested by Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire in Hamilton North and Bellshill since May 1999.

Iain Gray: This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much Phoenix Fund money is available from its Business Growth Unit; when such funding became available, and what the criteria are for distributing such funds.

Iain Gray: The Phoenix Fund comprises a number of strands, only one of which is available in Scotland. The loan guarantees element, to help co-finance commercial lending to Community Finance Initiatives, is applicable across the UK. Organisations based in Scotland are free to submit bids for this strand of funding on the same basis as any other UK Community Finance Initiatives.

  The Enterprise Networks are the main vehicle used in Scotland to support enterprise in disadvantaged areas.

European Funding

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s budget had no linkage to European funding in (a) the current year and (b) each of the last five years and how much is projected to have no such linkage in the next year, expressed in both percentage and monetary terms and as a percentage of the overall spending block.

Ross Finnie: The following table sets out estimates of the requested proportions based on the relevant published spending plans for the years 1997-98 to 2003-04.

  
 Year (a) 
Total Scotland(£ million)
(b)Total Environment and Rural Affairs(£ 
million) (c) Estimated Amount 
of (b) with no Linkage to European Funding(£ million) (%)
(d) Amounts in (c) as a % of Amounts in (a) 
1997-98 14,614
908 459 (51%)
3.1%  1998-99
14,523 804
392 (49%) 2.7%
 1999-2000
15,895 783
392 (50%) 2.5%
 2000-01
16,691 834
391 (47%) 2.3%
 2001-02
19,744 1,188
714 (60%) 3.6%
 2002-03
20,913 1,207
737 (61%) 3.5%
 2003-04
22,075 1,252
784 (63%) 3.6%


  Spending plans from 2001-02 are in resource terms, while those for previous years are in cash terms.

Flood Prevention

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the current availability of emergency flood defences to local authorities.

Allan Wilson: It is for local authorities to determine the emergency flood defence needs of their areas and to arrange for the provision of any measures they might identify.

Flood Prevention

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the transfer of emergency flood defences to areas when needed.

Allan Wilson: Local authorities have generic multi-agency response plans in place to prepare for a flood emergency in their areas. It is for councils to make appropriate arrangements for the deployment of emergency defences in light of local needs and concerns.

Flood Prevention

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what organisational preparations it has made to deal with civil contingencies involving floods.

Allan Wilson: The police have a duty to protect life and property and co-ordinate the multi-agency response by local authorities, emergency services and others to a civil emergency including flooding. In areas affected by flooding, multi-agency response groups can be brought together at the earliest sign of a potential risk. Through the Military Aid to the Civil Community Scheme the authorities can request the assistance of the services when appropriate. The Executive provides the police with specific grants for emergency planning for all types of civil emergencies including floods and can in certain circumstances offer further financial support under the Bellwin Scheme to councils incurring eligible costs in dealing with a large scale emergency.

  More specifically, the primary responsibility to protect property from flooding lies with the owners concerned. However, since 1997, councils have had a statutory duty to assess watercourses in their areas and maintain them in a due state of efficiency where this would substantially reduce the likelihood of flooding of non-agricultural land in their areas. The Executive also supports councils in their efforts to address flood risk to non-agricultural land through flood prevention schemes and has ensured that councils have the necessary powers and resources.

  Additionally, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has powers to operate flood warning schemes. The Executive provided financial support to SEPA to enable the introduction, last November, of the Floodline flood warning service.

  The Executive is committed to helping councils protect vulnerable communities from flooding and consequently reducing the likely need for emergency action, demonstrated by the substantially increased resources it has made available for major flood prevention schemes.

Flood Prevention

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what practical action it will take in order to help to address the causes of, and problems associated with, the flooding of land near residential and business properties in the Abronhill and Westfield communities of the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency.

Allan Wilson: North Lanarkshire Council has wide powers under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 to mitigate flooding of non-agricultural land in its area. Under the act, the council is obliged to publish biennial reports specifying all occurrences of such flooding, the measures it has taken and the measures it considers that it requires to take to mitigate flooding in its area. Should the council decide to take measures, other than those of repair or maintenance, then it can only carry these out in accordance with a flood prevention scheme, made by the council and confirmed by Scottish ministers. The answer given to question S1W-28883 today, outlines the financial support available to councils for flood prevention works.

Flood Prevention

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional financial assistance it will make available to either North Lanarkshire Council or the local communities of Abronhill and Westfield in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency in order to help to address continued problems associated with flooding to land near residential and business properties.

Allan Wilson: The single allocation North Lanarkshire Council receives for its non-housing capital programme includes, among other things, provision for flood prevention measures to mitigate flooding of non-agricultural land. More generally, and separately, the Executive has made additional resources available for major flood prevention schemes promoted by local authorities. Grant is available for the construction of confirmed flood prevention schemes subject to certain criteria.

  However, it is for North Lanarkshire Council to decide on its overall priorities for addressing flooding concerns in its area and come forward with suitable schemes. Should it do so, the needs of North Lanarkshire Council would be carefully considered in light of the resources available at that time.

Flood Prevention

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans are in hand to improve or create flood management control schemes.

Allan Wilson: Local authorities already have wide powers under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 to mitigate flooding of non-agricultural land in their areas. Measures, other than maintenance or repair, have to be in accordance with flood prevention schemes, made by councils, widely advertised and submitted for confirmation to Scottish ministers. The Executive issued National Planning Policy Guidance, in 1995, to planning authorities to apply the precautionary principle so that flood risk is avoided where possible and managed elsewhere.

Glasgow Harbour

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the site for the Glasgow Harbour development is owned by (a) Clydeport Authority, (b) Glasgow City Council and (c) other organisations.

Hugh Henry: I understand that Clydeport owns some 21 hectares (approximately 55%) of the development site and Glasgow City Council owns 17 hectares (approximately 44%). The remaining 1% is made up of various ownerships held on long leases.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how Levonelle is being monitored to ensure that it is used in line with prescription recommendations.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is not possible to monitor the use of Levonelle from data collected centrally. These data relate to numbers and costs of prescribed items dispensed in the community and are not patient-specific.

  Guidance on the use of Levonelle is available to prescribers from a number of sources including the British National Formulary and the manufacturer’s product literature.

  The prescribing of Levonelle is a matter for the clinical judgement of the health practitioner concerned, in consultation with the patient and informed by advice and evidence about its use.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action will be taken against any NHS trust which refuses to prescribe the anti-TNF drugs Etanercept and Infliximab to aid people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Malcolm Chisholm: Prescription of drugs to individual patients is a matter for the professional judgement of the clinicians involved. The Health Technology Board for Scotland (HTBS) has recently recommended Etanercept and Infliximab for use in certain circumstances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. I have made it clear that I expect NHSScotland to take account of advice and evidence from the HTBS and to ensure that recommended drugs or treatments are made available to meet clinical need. I have also said that any evidence which suggested that this was not happening would be followed up proactively.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently affected by rheumatoid arthritis, broken down by NHS trust area.

Mr Frank McAveety: The information sought is not held in the form requested. Information derived from the Continuous Morbidity Recording (CMR) system operated by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency estimates that approximately 16,500 individuals were seen by general practitioners in respect of rheumatoid arthritis in Scotland in the year ending December 2001.

  This figure is based on the activity of 60 Scottish General Practices for the year ending December 2001, with a combined population of 370,605. It is not possible to break it down by NHS trust area or to determine the degree to which individuals are affected by the condition.

Historic Buildings

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the recent refurbishment of Halbar Tower near Braidwood, South Lanarkshire was overseen in any way by Historic Scotland and why the previous flagstone roof was replaced with slate tiles, detailing the age of the replaced roof covering, any archaeological importance of the usage of flagstones to the tower and how these were disposed of in this instance.

Dr Elaine Murray: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to reply. His response is as follows:

  The repairs to Hallbar Tower were grant aided by Historic Scotland and were carried out in accordance with the terms and conditions that apply to the historic building repairs grant scheme.

  One of the conditions of the scheme is that work be carried out in accordance with an advisory report prepared by Historic Scotland architects. The advisory report is provided to guide the applicant’s professional adviser in the preparation of a comprehensive scheme of repairs.

  The advisory report for Hallbar Tower recommended the removal of the stone slab roof and its replacement with slate, the original roofing material. The stone slab roof was a relatively late element in the tower’s construction, having been introduced in the 1860s. It was not considered to be of archaeological importance and the slabs were re-cycled as footpaths round the tower and at the nearby bothy. The work was supervised on a day-to-day basis by the firm of architects appointed by the applicant, with periodic visits by a Historic Scotland architect to ensure that works progressed in accordance with the requirements of the advisory report. This is normal practice on a grant-assisted project.

Historic Buildings

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it maintains a register of historically important buildings currently in disuse or extensive disrepair that could be re-utilised or reconstituted for domestic use, detailing where any such register is held and in what format, how the public can access this information and, if such a register does not exist, what the reasons are for maintaining that position.

Dr Elaine Murray: I have asked Graeme Munro, Chief Executive of Historic Scotland to reply. His response is as follows:

  The Buildings at Risk Register is maintained by the Scottish Civic Trust on behalf of Historic Scotland, an agency of the Scottish Executive. It comprises information on endangered historic buildings that are in need of rescue and publicises them to potential purchasers or tenants who might restore them. The register is a computerised database and information is available to the public on request in the form of illustrated printouts, tailored to suit individual requirements, for which a small charge is made. The Buildings at Risk Bulletin is published annually and is circulated widely. This contains an illustrated selection of properties from the register. In addition to funding the register, Historic Scotland is making additional resources available to the trust to make the full Buildings at Risk Register available on the internet. This improved service will be available to the public in the near future.

  Members of the public may obtain further details about the Buildings at Risk service by contacting the Buildings at Risk Officer, The Scottish Civic Trust, 42 Miller Street, Glasgow G1 1DT. Telephone 0141 221 1466 or e-mail sct@scotnet.co.uk. Arrangements are being made to place the register in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Housing

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contingency plans it has in the event that the current investigations find that the Glasgow housing stock transfer is in breach of EU law.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27555 on 13 August 2002.

Housing

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities (a) continue to control and manage council houses and (b) have carried out complete housing stock transfers.

Ms Margaret Curran: All local authorities in Scotland currently own and manage council houses. Tenants in Glasgow, Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway have voted in favour of whole transfers, and work to complete the transfers is continuing.

Individual Learning Accounts

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to comments made by the then Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning in respect of individual learning account fraud ( Official Report, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee , 17 April 2002, c 2546.), whether the occurrence of fraud in around 3% of learning providers has now been firmly established and whether the percentage of learning providers identified as having been involved in such fraud has changed since the comments were made.

Iain Gray: Fraud has not yet been firmly established for any learning provider. It is a matter for the Procurator Fiscal Service to decide what constitutes "fraudulent activity" and whether there is sufficient evidence for criminal proceedings. It is then for the court to decide if there is sufficient evidence to convict.

Individual Learning Accounts

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27337 by Iain Gray on 31 July 2002, who is participating in its review of arrangements for encouraging participation in lifelong learning; how many meetings have taken place during the review; on what dates such meetings took place, and what specific areas have been identified for action.

Iain Gray: No formal review group was established, but preparations for the new individual learning account scheme are continuing. I expect to make a statement about the new scheme before the end of this year.

Individual Learning Accounts

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why using Capita as the individual learning account (ILA) centre was "significant in respect of the suspension" of ILAs, as stated by the then Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning ( Official Report, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee , 17 April 2002, c 2544.) and, in the light of its position on this matter, whether it has identified any reasons why such a UK-wide approach should not be undertaken in the future.

Iain Gray: In her statement to the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee, 17 April 2002, ( Official Report, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee , 17 April 2002, c2544.) Ms Wendy Alexander, the then Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning said:

  "Our arrangements were different from those in the other three countries, although we used the same ILA centre - Capita - as England and Northern Ireland but in a more limited role. That is significant in respect of the suspension."

  In Scotland learning providers had to be registered through the Scottish University for Industry (SUfI) and meet their requirements before they were accepted to deliver ILA-funded courses. This provided safeguards within the Scottish system additional to those which operated in the rest of the UK.

  The position regarding a successor scheme is still under review with a number of features still to be decided. Ultimately the arrangements in Scotland may differ from those adopted in the rest of the UK.

Justice

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many summary warrants in respect of council tax/community charge arrears were obtained for each local authority area and each sheriff court district in Scotland per month in 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02 and for the first three months of 2002-03; what the total value of the arrears in these cases was before and after surcharges; how many such cases were subsequently passed to sheriffs; how many poinding notices were then issued by sheriffs; how many poindings were executed; in how many cases poinding fees were subsequently charged and what the total value of such fees was; how many warrant sales then took place, and what the total value of monies raised by such sales was for (a) local authorities and (b) sheriffs.

Mr Jim Wallace: Figures showing the number of summary warrants granted by each sheriff court for Council Tax/Community Charge, during the periods requested, have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23056).

  Figures for the number of poindings effected and warrant sales completed on a sheriffdom basis per calendar year during those periods are also available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23057).

  The remaining information sought is not held by the courts.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the draft European Union framework decision on combating corruption in the private sector.

Mr Jim Wallace: The provisions of the draft framework decision on combating corruption in the private sector, if adopted, will be implemented as required throughout the UK as part of the UK’s international obligations. However, in Scotland, the implementation would take account of the distinctive Scottish legal system.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) males and (b) females have been (i) charged with, (ii) convicted and (iii) imprisoned for the (1) abduction, (2) serious assault and (3) murder of a child in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is shown in the following table. Cases involving child victims of abduction and serious assault cannot be separately identified within the data held centrally.

  Persons Accused of Cases Recorded1 as Murder Involving a Child (Aged Under 16) Victim, by Sex of Accused, 1991-2000

  
 Outcome of Proceeding 
1991 1992
1993 1994
1995 1996
1997 1998
1999 2000
 Total accused
 10   5 
 4   4 
 5   9 
 3   3 
 3   6 
 Charge proved
 2   3 
 1   3 
 1   2 
 2   1 
 2   2 
 Imprisoned
 2   3 
 -   1 
 1   2 
 2   1 
 2   2 
 Insanity, hospital order
 -   - 
 1   2 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 Other2
 8   2 
 3   1 
 4   7 
 1   2 
 1   4 
 Males accused
 7   4 
 2   3 
 2   6 
 2   2 
 2   6 
 Charge proved
 2   3 
 -   2 
 1   2 
 2   1 
 2   2 
 Imprisoned
 2   3 
 -   1 
 1   2 
 2   1 
 2   2 
 Insanity, hospital order
 -   - 
 -   1 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 Other2
 5   1 
 2   1 
 1   4 
 -   1 
 -   4 
 Females accused
 3   1 
 2   1 
 3   3 
 1   1 
 1   - 
 Charge proved
 -   - 
 1   1 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 Imprisoned
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 Insanity, hospital order
 -   - 
 1   1 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 -   - 
 Other2
 3   1 
 1   - 
 3   3 
 1   1 
 1   - 


  Notes:

  1. Currently (as at 26 October 2001) recorded as homicide.

  2. Includes death of suspect, case pending, no proceedings, proceedings dropped and acquittals.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) males and (b) females imprisoned for the (i) abduction, (ii) serious assault and (iii) murder of a child in each of the last 10 years have been considered for parole and how many have had their application (1) refused and (2) granted.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information is not available in the form requested. Information relating to the release of prisoners on licence is published in the annual report of the Parole Board for Scotland. The board’s report for 2001 was laid before the Parliament on 30 May 2002 and copies are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the role of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and Minister for Justice is in the parole hearing system and before a decision on a prisoners parole application has been decided upon.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish ministers are responsible under the terms of The Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2001 (the Rules), made under sections 20(4) and (4A) of the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 (as amended), for the referral of relevant cases to the Parole Board. On the referral of a case, the Scottish ministers are required by the rules to send to the board a dossier containing any information in writing or documents which they consider to be relevant to the case, including, wherever practicable, the information and documents specified in the Schedule to the rules.

  Long-term prisoners, that is persons sentenced to a term of four years or more, may be released on licence after serving one-half of the sentence, if this is recommended by the Parole Board. The Parole Board makes its decisions on whether or not to recommend the early release on licence of such prisoners in private, under Part III of the rules. If the board recommends the early release of a long-term prisoner who has been sentenced to less than 10 years, the Scottish ministers are obliged, by law, to release the prisoner. In the case of a prisoner sentenced to 10 years or more, the Scottish ministers currently exercise discretion over whether or not to accept the board’s recommendation. Under provisions contained in Part 4 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill it is proposed to remove that discretion so that Scottish ministers will be obliged to follow the board’s recommendation in all cases.

  In the case of life prisoners, when the punishment part of the life sentence has expired, an oral hearing is arranged by the Parole Board, under part IV of the rules, to consider whether or not the prisoner requires to continue to be confined for the protection of the public. Hearings normally take place in the establishment in which the prisoner is detained. In the dossier of information that is sent to the board in such cases there is normally a document recording the Scottish ministers’ views on whether or not the prisoner should continue to be confined; and at the oral hearing the Scottish ministers are represented, normally, by an official of the Justice Department and a representative of the Scottish Prison Service. The prisoner, who is entitled to be present at the hearing, may also be represented.

  Where, in the light of the information provided to it and the views expressed at the oral hearing, the Parole Board is satisfied that a life prisoner no longer requires to continue to be confined for the protection of the public, it will direct the prisoner’s release on life licence. The Scottish ministers are obliged, by law, to release the prisoner on life licence.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average length of time is for an appeal against a conviction for (a) serious assault, (b) rape, (c) culpable homicide and (d) murder to be heard and what action it is taking to speed up this process.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest figures are as follows:

  Average Duration of Appeals Against Conviction, by Main Offence, 2000

  
 Main Offence
Number of Concluded Appeals
Average Duration of Appeal (Days) 
Serious assault1 56
269  Rape
8 421
 Culpable homicide
3 177
 Murder
18 256
 All crimes and offences
432 185


  Source: SEJD criminal appeals database.

  Note:

  1. Includes serious assault and attempted murder.

  Data for appeals concluded in 2001 will be published on 26 September.

  The Lord Justice-General and Lord Justice-Clerk issued a consultation paper on 14 May 2002 setting out their proposals for reducing delays in criminal appeals. These proposals have now largely been enacted by way of an Act of Adjournal. We propose to take forward one aspect requiring primary legislation by an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the reasons for refusing a bail application after an (a) charge of and (b) conviction for (i) serious assault, (ii) rape, (iii) culpable homicide and (iv) murder and the name of the judge who considered the application are recorded and, if so, where and when.

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the reasons for the judge’s decision to release Richard Crawford on bail and whether the DNA evidence involved was a factor in the judge’s decision.

Mr Jim Wallace: The judiciary is not required by law to give reasons for its decisions to grant or refuse to grant bail. In any event, applications for bail are not categorised by type of offence.

  The identity of the judge who considered an application for bail is retained within the records of the Scottish Court Service.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to issue guidance or directions to judges comparable to that issued to judges in England and Wales that the time it takes for an appeal to be heard should not be a strong enough reason to grant bail.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive does not give guidance or directions to the judiciary on judicial matters. In Scotland, judicial decisions on bail are governed by the relevant legislation and case law.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been the practice of prosecuting authorities not to attend bail appeals for people (a) charged with and (b) convicted of (i) serious assault, (ii) rape, (iii) culpable homicide and (iv) murder on the grounds that they had no statutory right to do so.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: There has been no such practice.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any backlog in the processing of appeals in respect of a (a) charge and (b) conviction for (i) serious assault, (ii) rape, (iii) culpable homicide and (iv) murder, and, if so, what this backlog is; what the average length of time is for an appeal to be considered in the High Court, and what plans it has to increase the number of judges to address the processing of appeals.

Mr Jim Wallace: Information is not readily available in the form requested. However, I understand that 120 appeals against conviction under solemn procedure from both the High Court and Sheriff Court covering a wide range of seriousness   await a hearing before the Court of Criminal Appeal. As at 30 June 2002 the average waiting period for this category of appeal was 32   term weeks.

  The programming of business before the Court of Criminal Appeal is a matter for the Lord Justice General. He has recently introduced a number of measures to improve the management of appeals. These are set out in the Act of Adjournal (Criminal Appeals) 2002 (SSI 2002/387), made on 23 August 2002.

  Among the reforms is the introduction of a procedural hearing in appeals against conviction or conviction and sentence. This hearing will take place before a single judge who will consider the state of preparation of the appeal. Cases which are ready to proceed will then be allocated to an Appeal Court hearing. It is anticipated that these hearings will improve the rate at which cases proceed through the appeals procedure.

  Procedural hearings will be fixed for all new solemn appeals progressively over the next few months. The first diet of hearings will take place this September, with cases that are ready to proceed to a full hearing coming before the Appeal Court before the end of the year. There are no plans to increase the overall number of judges at the present time.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance or directions it has issued to the judges and prosecutors in respect of the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on bail applications, conditions and appeals.

Mr Jim Wallace: On guidance and directions to judges, I would refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28832 today. However, I understand that the Judicial Studies Committee provided comprehensive assistance to judges in their study of all aspects of the ECHR.

  Prosecutors received a three-day intensive course in human rights law and that included a component on bail issues.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is permissible for a judge to consider whether an appeal after a conviction for (a) serious assault, (b) rape, (c) culpable homicide and (d) murder could succeed when considering a bail application and what guidance or directions it has issued to the judiciary on this issue.

Mr Jim Wallace: Decisions about the grant of bail and the factors they may or may not take into account in considering whether or not to grant bail are matters entirely for the judiciary.

  As to the issue of guidance or directions to the judiciary, I would refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28832 today.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements the justiciary has in place to notify the police when a person (a) charged with and (b) convicted of (i) serious assault, (ii) rape, (iii) culpable homicide and (iv) murder is granted bail and what plans it has to issue guidance or directions to the justiciary on this issue.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Court Service (SCS) notify the police in those cases where bail is granted to an accused person and a further condition, or conditions, is imposed in addition to the standard conditions irrespective of the type of offence. The police are informed by the SCS when an appellant is granted bail pending the determination of his appeal irrespective of the offence and of whether further conditions in addition to the standard conditions are imposed.

  Where the police require details of a particular bail application not covered by these arrangements, such information will be available from the police officer present in court where the accused appears from custody, or from the clerk of court when bail is granted or bail conditions are varied.

  On guidance or directions to the judiciary, I would refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28832 today.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much in Scottish police resources, funding and time has been used to apprehend Richard Crawford after his absconding on bail.

Mr Jim Wallace: Where an individual absconds on bail, Scottish forces will as a matter of course take steps to check whether that individual is in their area and, if so, to seek his/her apprehension. However, any resources expended as a consequence are a matter for individual forces and the information is not held centrally

Justice

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to lift reporting restrictions on disciplinary hearings concerning justices of the peace.

Mr Jim Wallace: I assume this is a reference to the investigative tribunals held under section 9 of the Bail, Judicial Appointments etc (Scotland) Act 2000. The Justice of the Peace (Tribunal) (Scotland) Regulations 2001 require these tribunals to sit in private for reasons of confidentiality. The tribunals are required to investigate whether a bench-sitting justice of the peace is unfit for office by reason of inability, neglect of duty or misbehaviour. Since such investigation might well extend to the private life of the justice it would not be appropriate to make the sittings of the tribunal public and the Executive has no plans to amend the regulations to that end.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people whose criminal convictions have been quashed have applied for standard compensation in the last five years; how many of these were successful in their applications, and what the total amount of compensation awarded was.

Mr Jim Wallace: One applicant has received an interim award of compensation under the statutory compensation scheme. The case has not been concluded and the final amount of the award has not yet been determined by the Independent Assessor.

  Two further cases have been considered in terms of the statutory compensation scheme and subsequently for an ex-gratia award. Both have been refused. In addition, one further case was refused a statutory award of compensation but remains under active consideration for an ex-gratia award.

Justice

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people whose criminal convictions were quashed have applied for ex-gratia compensation payments in the last five years; how many of these were successful, and what the total amount of compensation awarded was.

Mr Jim Wallace: One person has claimed successfully for an ex-gratia award of compensation for a miscarriage of justice in the last five years. In the interests of successful claimants Scottish ministers do not normally disclose the pecuniary value of awards to individuals, nor are claimants identified by name.

  Not all applicants who apply for compensation specify whether they are seeking a statutory award or an ex-gratia payment. In addition to the successful claimant referred to above, two other applications were considered for ex-gratia payments following consideration under the statutory scheme but were refused. A further application remains under active consideration.

Licensing

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to sheriffs in relation to prosecuting and sentencing licensees that have broken the law by serving alcohol to those below the legal age for purchasing alcohol.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Crown Office and Prosecutor Fiscal Service is the sole prosecution authority in Scotland. Prosecutions under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1976 are subject to the same criteria as any other alleged contravention of the criminal law. Procurators Fiscal must be satisfied that there is sufficient admissible and reliable evidence before raising proceedings. The maximum penalties for offences under the licensing laws are prescribed by statute. Sentencing within these parameters is solely a matter for the consideration and discretion of the Judiciary and the Executive cannot intervene.

Lifelong Learning

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27337 by Iain Gray on 31 July 2002, whether arrangements for encouraging participation in lifelong learning currently under review will involve the creation of a second individual learning account (ILA) scheme.

Iain Gray: I am committed to the development of a new ILA scheme that will encourage the widest possible participation in lifelong learning. This matter is being considered within the broader framework of the Lifelong Learning Strategy currently in preparation.

Lifelong Learning

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27337 by Iain Gray on 31 July 2002, what its current position is on the statement by the then Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning that the individual learning account scheme was "very successful and the feedback was good" ( Official Report, Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Committee , 17 April 2002, c 2544.); whether it aims to introduce a new individual learning account scheme quickly, and what the reasons are for its position on these matters.

Iain Gray: The ILA scheme attracted over 266,000 members in Scotland, with over 127,000 having used their accounts for learning. The findings of an independent evaluation on the scheme, placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 22524) in June of this year, reinforced the positive feedback we have received from learners.

  While I am committed to the introduction of a successor scheme, any new scheme will have to fully address the concerns that have been raised. I intend to launch the successor scheme when I am satisfied that all the required improvements have been incorporated. I expect to make an announcement before the end of the year.

Lifelong Learning

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (a) the agenda and (b) the minutes of each meeting held during its review of arrangements for encouraging participation in lifelong learning and what the reasons are for its position in respect of any matter where disclosure of such items is declined.

Iain Gray: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-28850 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with mental health problems are currently in receipt of direct payments, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Provisional information, collected at end March 2002, shows that, in 2001-02, there were five people with mental health problems in receipt of direct payments – one in Fife, two in Highland, one in South Ayrshire and one in West Lothian.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures that resources earmarked for local authority provision of mental health services, children’s services, care of the elderly and those with learning disabilities are fully utilised for the purpose for which they were intended.

Mr Andy Kerr: Resources for certain services are provided through ring-fenced specific grants, for example through the Mental Illness Specific Grant. However, the vast majority of grant funding provided to local authorities is not earmarked for specific purposes. It is for local authorities to establish their expenditure priorities and to ensure that they meet their statutory responsibilities for the provision of care services. Guidance is issued to assist councils in meeting these responsibilities. We are also developing Local Outcome Agreements with local government to agree specific outcome targets for certain services, including care services for older people.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in the light of the report by the National Children's Home (NCH), Look beyond the scars .

Malcolm Chisholm: The NCH report, which recognises that self-harm is often a way of coping with depression and emotional distress, is a helpful contribution to the Executive’s drive to improve the well-being of young people in Scotland, and its findings will be taken into account in policy development. Of particular importance is the report’s emphasis on the involvement of service users in formulating policy, an approach with the Executive endorses and is increasingly adopting.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what services are currently available for those involved with all aspects of deliberate self-harm, including professional and frontline carers.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is for NHS boards and local authorities to arrange appropriate support and services, having assessed the needs of their areas. The Framework for the Reduction of Suicide, which will be issued later this year, will provide advice to local agencies in developing responsive services.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific treatment is offered to people who self-harm.

Malcolm Chisholm: Treatment will divide between the physical, which will vary from case to case and the psychological which will involve engaging the patient with exploring and addressing the root cause of their self harm actions.

  We have already issued guidance to the care agencies on the organisation of psychological intervention services which are designed around talking treatments that encourage self help as part of the treatment and support options.

  The guidance is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23704).

NHS Services

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurses have been recruited by the NHS 24 service.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS 24 has recruited 48 full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses for its north of Scotland contact centre and 213 FTE for the west of Scotland centre. Recruitment for the east of Scotland centre will begin in the early part of 2003.

National Cultural Strategy

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to provide additional guidance to local authorities in order to promote good practice in taking forward the National Cultural Strategy.

Mike Watson: Local authorities have a key role in implementing the National Cultural Strategy. Following publication of the strategy in August 2000, a Joint Working Group of the Executive and COSLA was formed to develop good practice guidance for local authorities in relevant responsibilities. I am pleased to announce that Implementation of the National Cultural Strategy: Guidance for Scottish Local Authorities has been published for consultation by the Executive today. This is being sent to all local authorities, COSLA, cultural agencies and other interested organisations. Comments are invited by 13 January 2003. Copies are also available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre and from the Executive website.

Planning

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to enforce structure plans and what steps have to be taken by a local authority to modify a structure plan once it has been accepted by ministers.

Hugh Henry: The statutory provisions governing the preparation of structure plans are contained in sections 6 to 10 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997. Section 9 sets out the steps a local authority must follow when preparing an alteration to, or replacement of, a structure plan.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have produced minerals plans either as stand alone policies or as part of local structure plans.

Hugh Henry: Planning authorities can choose to deal with minerals extraction either as part of a comprehensive Local Plan or (usually in areas with significant minerals extraction activity) as a Minerals Subject Local Plan. The former North East Fife District Council adopted a Minerals Subject Local Plan in 1994. Four councils - East Ayrshire (for opencast coal only), Scottish Borders, Fife and South Lanarkshire – are all currently producing minerals subject local plans.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation process local authorities are required to undertake when devising a minerals plan and what process it undertakes before it approves such plans.

Hugh Henry: Local authorities must take account of all the relevant interests at a number of key stages during plan preparation. A public local inquiry must be held if there are unresolved objections. The reporter’s recommendations are then sent to the planning authority for consideration. The Scottish ministers must be given formal notice when the authority intends to adopt the plan. Such notification is primarily for information. The Executive can decide to intervene although its general policy is that local planning matters are primarily the responsibility of planning authorities.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to devise a national strategy for minerals extraction and how plans produced by local authorities will fit into, or be influenced by, any such strategy.

Hugh Henry: The Executive’s policies for minerals planning are set out in NPPG 16 for opencast coal and NPPG 4 for other types of minerals. National guidance and policies should be taken into account by local authorities when preparing their structure and local plans. For the future, the conclusions and recommendations of the recently published research report on the operation and effectiveness of NPPG 4 are currently under consideration .  The role of mineral extraction in the context of the Review of Strategic Planning  was also fully discussed during the consultation process and Conclusions and next steps  were   issued in June 2002.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many local authority minerals plans it has approved since 1 July 1999.

Hugh Henry: None. Mineral plans are prepared and adopted by local authorities and generally do not require the approval of the Scottish ministers.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received about a national strategy for minerals extraction and whether it has consulted any individuals, organisations or commercial concerns about any such strategy.

Hugh Henry: The Executive continues to receive representations from the industry about arrangements for national mineral planning. Future arrangements were considered as part of the Review of Strategic Planning and will be taken forward as a follow-up to research into National Planning Policy Guideline 4: Land for Mineral Working . Both these initiatives involved full consultation with interested parties.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it holds on different (a) volumes of material moved by and (b) requirements of mineral quarries compared with opencast sites and whether it will ensure that any such differences are recognised in any mineral plans produced by local authorities.

Hugh Henry: Currently Scotland produces some 33 million tonnes of construction aggregate (sand and gravel and crushed rock) and seven million tonnes of opencast coal. Information is not held centrally on the production and distribution of minerals from individual sites. The Executive has recently begun discussions with the aggregates industry to consider how best to ensure that relevant data is available to facilitate development plan preparation and development control decisions. It is for local authorities to consider what information should be taken into account when preparing mineral plans in the light of locally prevailing circumstances.

Planning

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what expectations it has in respect of the procedure, methods and types of consultation, cost and outcomes of any local authority project to produce a minerals plan.

Hugh Henry: The statutory requirements for plan preparation are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the Town and Country Planning (structure and Local Plans) (Scotland) Regulations 1983. Scottish Development Department Circular 32/1983 describes the general principles that the Scottish ministers consider should be taken into account when preparing plans. A copy of this Circular is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 23755). National Planning Policy Guidelines (NPPGs) indicate to planning authorities a range of issues to be taken into account in the preparation of Development Plans. The relevance of any particular national planning policy issue will depend on the circumstances prevailing in any particular local authority area.

Police

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all police forces have in place sufficient police surgeons to attend to victims of crime timeously.

Mr Jim Wallace: The provision of police surgeons to attend to victims of crime is an operational matter for chief constables.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-19366 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 November 2001, whether it will give a breakdown of the table in Appendix 7 to the  Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2000-01 and the table in Appendix 6 of the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2001-02 on "breaches of discipline committed and punishments awarded in establishments" to show how many times disciplinary action was taken against prisoners in each prison, including HM Prison Kilmarnock, in 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested can be found in the Parliament’s Reference Centre, Bib. numbers 23025 and 23026.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made in each local prison for inmates that misuse drugs; how many (a) Scottish Prison Service and (b) outside agency staff are engaged in drugs work, and (i) what the current staff complement is and (ii) how many vacancies there currently are in respect of such posts in each case.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Each prison provides a range of interventions appropriate to the needs of its population for prisoners who misuse drugs (and other substances), as set out in the SPS Drug Strategy, Partnership and Co-ordination (SPS 2000), available through the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  Due to the multiplicity of tasks performed by staff, no sensible figure exists of the staff related to this work. All staff are to a degree involved in drugs work.

  Several other outside agencies also help us to deliver services to prisoners, including local authorities, health boards and voluntary sector agencies. In meeting output targets, these agencies are responsible for determining the resources to allocate. We do not keep a grand total.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is made for drug misusers at each local prison when they leave custody.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners subject to statutory throughcare are supervised post-release by Criminal Justice Social Work Services. Short-term prisoners with substance misuse problems (including drugs, alcohol and volatile substances) released from all prisons may access the newly implemented Transitional Care service, provided by the Scottish Prison Service. This service provides pre-release needs assessment and up to 12 weeks post-release advocacy support for needs related to accommodation, employment and training, education, personal finance and health needs, including substance misuse related support.

  Additional support arrangements may be in place from time to time through local ad-hoc arrangements.

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) inspections Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons has carried out and (b) reports have been issued for each prison in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Clive Fairweather, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons to respond. His response is as follows:

  The number of inspections carried out and reports issued from 1998 to August 2002, (excluding inspections of Legalised Police Cells), is shown in the following table:

  
 Establishment
Number of Inspections Reports 
Issued Comments
 HMP Aberdeen
8 5 
 HMP Castle Huntly
4 4 
 HMP Edinburgh
4 4 
 HMP Friarton
1 1
Amalgamated with HMP Perth  HMP 
and YOI Glenochil 4
4  
HMP Inverness 5
5  
HMP Noranside 4
4  
HMP Perth 5
5  
HMP Peterhead 4
4  
HM Unit Peterhead 2
1 Opened 1995, mothballed 
2000  HMYOI Polmont
6 6 
 HMP Barlinnie
4 4 
 HMP and YOI Cornton Vale
3 3 
 HMP and YOI Dumfries
5 4 
 HMP Dungavel
3 3
Closed 2000  HMP Greenock
4 4 
 HM Remand Longriggend
1 1
Closed 2000  HMP Low Moss
4 3 
 HMP Penninghame
2 1
Closed 2000  HMP Shotts
4 3 
 HM Unit Shotts
2 2
Amalgamated with main prison (Temporarily Closed 2002) 
HM National Induction Centre Shotts 3
3 Amalgamated with main 
prison  HMP Kilmarnock
3 3
Opened March 1999  HMP Zeist 
(informal assessment) 1
1 Closed 2002

Prison Service

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of prison inmates tested positive for drugs at reception into prison in each quarter in each of the last three years, broken down by prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Readily available information on reception drug test results are published annually in the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland annual bulletin. The figures for 1998-99 to 2000-01 are at tables 106 and 107 in the 2001 report (Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001, Information and Statistics Division, 2002).

  The figures for 2001-02 will be published in the next annual bulletin.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies have been done and used as baseline evidence to underpin the decision to implement the Retox Programme for prisoners prior to release.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Retoxification of opiate addicts prior to release occurs only in a very small number of prisoners who have lost their tolerance to opiates while in custody and who, despite our best efforts, are intent on reverting to their old pattern of drug misuse upon liberation. This group are at risk of overdose and possibly drug-related death, and in many cases, have overdosed previously.

  No formal studies of retoxification have been undertaken.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-27013 and S1W-27863 by Mr Jim Wallace on 17 July and 21 August 2002 respectively, why performance measure points had to be converted back into number of incidents to answer parliamentary questions if the Scottish Prison Service keeps a record of the number of incidents incurring performance measure points.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Because the answer given to question S1W-27013 referred to an earlier response to question S1W-26061, performance points were converted back to ensure that the details of the number of assaults in each category were correct. Neither the raw data available on each incident nor the overall number of performance points incurred in respect of Schedule F for each period gave the response to the question which was asked.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27920 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2002, how incidents in HM Prison Kilmarnock incurring performance points are recorded when there is no Scottish Prison Service controller present in the prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Serious incidents and significant events are notified immediately to the Duty Controller by telephone if he is not present.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27874 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 August 2002, why incidents incurring penalty points under paragraph 2.2(g) of schedule F of the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock occurring together with incidents incurring penalty points under paragraph 2.2(h) are treated as a single incident when there is no indication in the contract that this will be the case.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  When a prisoner tests positive for more than one substance, the application of multiple disciplinary offences is not in the SPS’s view helpful in encouraging individuals to give up drugs. Treating a positive test for more than one substance as a single event for the purposes of applying performance points is consistent with this approach.

Prison Service

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish its contracts with City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Councils for provision of social work services in Scottish prisons subject to deletion of matters that are commercially confidential, giving the reasons for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has held, or now holds, on past political activity of members of its staff and staff of the Scottish Prison Service.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information on political activities would rarely be held, except in the case where a civil servant had applied for permission to undertake such activities in line with the terms and restrictions in the Civil Service Management Code which applies to SPS staff.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what performance indicators the pay of the members of the Scottish Prison Service Board is related to.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS Board, as members of the Senior Civil Service, are set appropriate performance targets following discussion between the individual and their line manager, related to the role the individual performs and are linked to the agency’s business aims and objectives including the SPS key performance indicators set out in the SPS Annual Report.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has commissioned any research relating the performance indicators in the contract for HM Prison Kilmarnock to the level of re-offending on leaving the prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  No. The SPS has carried out research into the rates of return to custody but the data is not on a prison specific basis. Details are published in the SPS research bulletins.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made to date with the Crown Office in producing a Race Equality Scheme under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 by the 30 November 2002 deadline.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: Officials from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are liaising with other departments within the Scottish Executive to ensure that Scottish ministers meet their statutory obligations under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, which includes the publication of a Race Equality Scheme by 30 November 2002.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission research similar to the report by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, A report on the Joint Inspection into the Investigation and Prosecution of Cases Involving Allegations of Rape , and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no plans to conduct research into the investigation and prosecution of cases involving allegations of rape. The Scottish Executive is, however, working with the police to review existing guidance on the investigation of complaints of sexual assault including rape.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27992 by Mr Jim Wallace on 26 August 2002, when the review will be completed and an announcement made on whether further research will be carried out.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is working with the police to review existing guidance on the investigation of complaints of sexual assault including rape. The outcome of this review will inform the need for further action (including the possibility of research).

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to update the guidance issued to police forces on the investigation of rape.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is working with the police to review the existing guidance on the investigation of complaints of sexual assault, including rape.

Regional Selective Assistance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been invested in Regional Selective Assistance in Hamilton North and Bellshill in each year since 1999.

Iain Gray: The information requested is contained in the following table:

  
  RSA 
Offers Accepted Planned Capital 
Investment Created/Safeguarded 
Jobs  1999-2000
£3,514,000 £14,303,600
564  2000-01
£3,110,000 £13,649,000
481  2001-02
£5,664,000 £27,204,000
759

Regulation of Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether appropriate audit tools are now being applied to assess and monitor care standards across Scotland.

Mr Frank McAveety: This is an operational matter for the Care Commission.

Regulation of Care

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an adequate number of Care Commission Inspectors are now trained and in place to ensure full inspection and monitoring of standards in accordance with the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001.

Mr Frank McAveety: The employment and training of adequate inspection staff are operational matters for the Care Commission itself.

Residential Care

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26764 by Cathy Jamieson on 27 June 2002, whether the information requested in respect of 2000-01 is now available.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on children residential care for 2000-01 was published on 2 September, and is available via the Scottish Executive website using the link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00191-00.asp . This includes information on children in secure accommodation, namely (a) admissions during 2000-01 by gender, (b) length of stay of residents on 31 March 2001 and (c) length of stay of children discharged from secure accommodation during 2000-01. On 31 March 2001, there were 63 boys and 23 girls in secure accommodation for children. The other information requested is given in the following table.

  Children Admitted to Secure Units: by Reason for Placement

  
 Reason for Placement (see Codelist Below)
Children Admitted During 2000-01
Children Resident on 31 March 2001 
Code 91 0
0  Code 92
1 2
 Code 93
7 5
 Code 94
69 24
 Code 95
72 22
 Code 96
25 16
 Code 97
31 11
 Code 99
13 6
 Not known
0 0
 Total 218
86 

  Codelist for placement reasons

  91. Order made under section 44(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

  92. Order made under section 205 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

  93. Order made under section 208 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

  94. Order made under section 70(9) of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, to which is attached a condition authorising use of Secure Accommodation.

  95. A Place of Safety Order or Warrant made under the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, authorising the use of Secure Accommodation.

  96. Where committal to a Place of Safety or other temporary detention is made under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

  97. The authority of the Director of Social Work and the person in charge of the establishment, pending the convening of a Children's Hearing to consider the case.

  99. Other.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26852 by Allan Wilson on 16 July 2002, why there are no Scottish Environment Protection Agency board members in the Highlands and Islands.

Allan Wilson: In selecting new members for the board of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), we seek to produce a balance of backgrounds and experience to bring together a board which covers all aspects of the agency’s work and the various groups it deals with. While the appointments process is based on assessing skills and experience of candidates, the Executive recognises the importance of achieving balanced representation from across Scotland. Three previous members of the SEPA Board were based in the Highlands and Islands and I hope that suitable candidates from the area will emerge from current and future rounds of appointments.

  As well as the main board, SEPA also has a network of three regional boards; the North and West Region Boards include representatives from the Highlands and Islands.

Scottish Executive Equipment

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what items of audio visual equipment have been installed in the east wing basement conference complex of St. Andrew’s House, giving the (a) installation date and (b) cost in each case.

Mr Andy Kerr: The media centre in St Andrew’s House was commissioned in October 1999. The following equipment was supplied and installed at a cost of £70,000:

   
Controller  Touchscreen 
Induction Loop Amplifier  Audio Distribution 
Amplifier  Ceiling Speakers 
35mm Slide Projector  VGA/Video/Audio Switcher
 28" Monitor  Tape 
Deck  CD Player 
Graphic Equaliser  VGA/Video Monitor
 LCD Projector  LCD 
Monitor (2)  Visual Presenter 
Microphones (5)  10" Video Monitor
 SVHS Player  Projection 
Screen  VHS Player 
VGA Distribution Amplifier (5)  VGA Distribution 
Amplifier  VGA Switcher 
Staging  Lighting Dimmer 
6" LCD Monitor  Powered Speaker
 Mixer Desk  Speakers
 VGA to Video Convertor 
VGA Switcher

Scottish Executive Equipment

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what items of audio visual equipment have been removed from the control room area of Conference Room 1 at Victoria Quay, giving the (a) date removed, (b) reason for removal and (c) disposal process in each case.

Mr Andy Kerr: A faulty projector was removed and replaced in 1999. Disposal of equipment has been arranged through the Dispersal Service Agency.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27994 by Mr Andy Kerr on 2 September 2002, what the split between advertising and marketing is for each heading specified in each year from 1999-2000 to 2004-05.

Mr Andy Kerr: Advertising and marketing are not recorded separately.

Sexual Offences

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been received in respect of decisions made by procurators fiscal not to proceed with cases involving allegations of rape and other forms of sexual abuse.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: One representation was received recently about the prosecution rate in such cases in one area; we will reply shortly. Victims in such cases sometimes make representations where they are dissatisfied with the decision in the case which involves them. However, except where there is a clear and irremediable insufficiency of evidence (so that prosecution would be unlawful), decisions in rape and other serious sexual assault cases, as in other types of very serious crime, are taken by Crown Counsel and not by procurators fiscal.

Sexual Offences

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any procedures in place that ensure that only judges with the appropriate training, experience and sensitivity conduct trials involving charges of rape and other sexual offences and whether it will publish a list of such judges.

Mr Jim Wallace: Any Judge of the High Court of Justiciary may conduct trials involving charges of rape and other sexual offences. There are no procedures to restrict such trials to certain judges.

Sexual Offences

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds a judge may be removed from any list of judges authorised to conduct trials involving charges of rape and other sexual offences.

Mr Jim Wallace: There is no list of judges authorised to conduct trials involving charges of rape and other sexual offences and hence no procedures for the removal of a judge from such a list.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26780 by Hugh Henry on 11 July 2002, whether the turnover of staff in the Inverclyde Social Inclusion Partnership is below or above the national average for such organisations.

Hugh Henry: No information on staff turnover within Social Inclusion Partnerships (SIPs) is currently held within either Communities Scotland or the Scottish Executive. Given the complexity of different support arrangements in SIPs across Scotland it would be difficult to obtain accurate comparative information on this subject.

Special Educational Needs

Mr Lloyd Quinan (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a new duty on local authorities to identify a responsible person to advise and help a person with learning disabilities and his or her family to put future needs assessments into practice, as recommended by the report The same as you? , and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Frank McAveety: Proposals for improving arrangements for supporting pupils likely to have significant difficulties in the transition from school, are set out in the publication Assessing our children's educational needs - the Way Forward (Bib. number 19469). These proposals for change are now being developed further as part of the overall review of assessment and recording of pupils with additional support needs. This extends planning and support in the transition period to a wider group of young people than are currently entitled to a Future Needs Assessment (only those with a Record of Needs).

Taxation

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers it has to introduce a Scottish service tax.

Peter Peacock: Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998 is explicit that fiscal policy is a reserved issue.

Tourism

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an opportunity to promote tourism has been missed given that non-designated beaches do not appear on European maps of bathing beaches.

Mike Watson: No. VisitScotland actively promotes coastal and marine tourism as part of the Outdoor Scotland brand within its product marketing portfolio, and images of Scottish beaches are frequently used by both VisitScotland and the British Tourist Authority when marketing Scotland within the UK and abroad.

Tourism

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people from Scandinavia visited Scotland in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) country, (b) method of travel and port of entry, (c) estimated amount spent and (d) their purpose for travelling.

Mike Watson: VisitScotland have provided the information requested in the following tables:

  Table 1: Sweden

  
 
Trips(000)
Spend(£ million)
Method of Entry (%)
Most Popular Port of Entry
Trip Purpose (%) 
Air Sea
Air Sea
Holiday Business
VFR Other
 1997 42
20 78
22 Edinburgh
Harwich 60
29 3
8  1998
66 31
61 39
Edinburgh NE 
Eng 57
22 13
8  1999
34 11
77 23
Heathrow Harwich
55 29
14 2
 2000 24
10 87
13 Heathrow
Harwich 39
41 15
5  2001
23 9
n/a n/a
Stansted -
21 46
24 9


  Table 2: Denmark

  
 
Trips(000)
Spend(£ million)
Method of Entry (%)
Most Popular Port of Entry
Trip Purpose (%) 
Air Sea
Air Sea
Holiday Business
VFR Other
 1997 27
10 79
21 Glasgow
Harwich 47
30 12
11  1998
40 21
69 31
Heathrow NE 
Eng 75
15 10
-  1999
32 13
82 18
Glasgow Harwich
36 43
14 7
 2000 19
8 87
13 Edinburgh
Harwich 44
39 17
-  2001
20 7
86 14
Stansted Harwich
84 10
6 -


  Table 3: Norway

  
 
Trips(000)
Spend(£ million)
Method of Entry (%)
Most Popular Port of Entry
Trip Purpose (%) 
Air Sea
Air Sea
Holiday Business
VFR Other
 1997 29
13 84
16 Newcastle
NE Eng 43
34 20
3  1998
40 22
90 10
Edinburgh NE 
Eng 28
38 24
10  1999
35 41
69 31
Newcastle NE 
Eng 38
49 11
2  2000
28 12
n/a n/a
Luton NE Eng
n/a n/a
n/a n/a
 2001 19
8 81
19 Glasgow
NE Eng 29
29 31
11 

  Table 4: Finland

  
 
Trips(000)
Spend(£ million)
Method of Entry (%)
Most Popular Port of Entry
Trip Purpose (%) 
Air Sea
Air Sea
Holiday Business
VFR Other
 1997 15
6 72
28 Heathrow
NE Eng 40
47 1
12  1998
12 5
79 21
Heathrow NE 
Eng n/a
n/a n/a
n/a  1999
12 5
90 10
Heathrow NE 
Eng 51
37 16
6  2000
5 3
88 12
Edinburgh NE 
Eng 20
40 20
20  2001
3 4
100 -
Heathrow -
n/a n/a
n/a n/a

Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions were raised under section 272 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: There have been no prosecutions under section 272 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997.

Union of the Crowns

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Union of the Crowns in 2003 and whether it has liased with Buckingham Palace on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive is in touch with Buckingham Palace about this anniversary but no plans have yet been made.

Vaccines

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether thiomersal is still used for child vaccinations; which current vaccinations contain thiomersal, and whether thiomersal is considered safe to use.

Malcolm Chisholm: The regulation and control of medicines is reserved.

  The Medicines Control Agency has advised that the only vaccines in the routine UK childhood immunisation programme which contain thiomersal as an excipient in the final product are diphtheria, tetanus, wholecell pertussis (DTwP) and diphtheria and tetanus vaccines.

  In September 2001, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) reviewed the available data relating to possible neurotoxicity of thiomersal in vaccines and advised that there is no evidence of harm caused by doses of thiomersal in vaccines, except for hypersensitivity reactions. The CSM concluded that the risk:benefit balance of thiomersal-containing vaccines remains overwhelmingly positive.

  Information about thiomersal in vaccines was provided in a letter issued to NHSScotland in November 2001 from the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Nursing Officer and the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23701).

Water Safety

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how Scottish Water has re-prioritised its investment programme following the recent contamination of water supplies by the cryptospiridium bacterium.

Ross Finnie: The Cryptosporidium Directions required Scottish Water to carry out a risk assessment on all its supplies and introduced sampling appropriate to the assessed risk. The Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) audits the requirements of the directions annually. Following the recent events in Glasgow and Edinburgh I have asked the DWQR to carry out a review of the detailed workings of the directions. The outcome of this review will be available in about two months. In the meantime, my initial assessment is that the investment priorities for 2002-06 given in the Quality and Standards paper published in August 2001 were broadly correct.